What Is Poliquin® BioSignature?

Poliquin® BioSignature is a system that uses nutrition, supplements, and lifestyle strategies to help you transform your body. Based off clinical and scientific evidence, this method uses a non-invasive, 12-site body fat assessment to correlate body fat distribution to potential areas of hormone dysregulation.

One thing we know for sure when it comes to nutrition and exercise is that everyone is different (1). Applying the same diet or training protocol can lead to frustration and diminished returns. Poliquin® BioSignature overcomes this by giving you a snapshot of your physiology.

Hormone dysfunction is often the culprit of body fat storage and other health concerns—issues like poor sleep, low energy, and brain fog. The information provided from the assessments gives you a detailed snapshot of what is going on with your body. With this particular information, you can implement targeted changes that make it easier to meet goals.

Misconceptions of Poliquin® BioSignature

There are many misconceptions about what Poliquin® BioSignature is and how it developed. For example, people incorrectly think this is a spot reduction program or only targets body fat in one part of the body. The opposite is true. Poliquin® BioSignature is a holistic approach that looks at the whole person. The goal is to gather as much information as possible and develop comprehensive interventions that support the most realistic healthy habits that you can sustain over the long-term.

Poliquin® BioSignature is unique from many dietary interventions because it identifies a priority to focus on and supplies a path for assessment and re-evaluation. There’s no one-size-fits all approach. Troubleshooting is built into the program. The 12-site caliper testing helps monitor your progress and stay on top of small changes in body composition over time. This helps you target pain points if you have a history of failure with diets. Seeing progress being made as your caliper measurements drop promotes adherence so that you stay on track.

The Three Main Poliquin® BioSignature Hormones

Poliquin® BioSignature identifies associations between body fat distribution and three main hormones (2,3,4,5):

1. Cortisol
2. Insulin
3. Estrogen

Training, nutrition, and lifestyle recommendations will vary depending on which hormone is your priority. For example, if you have an estrogen profile, you have two main goals:

• Support estrogen elimination from the body and
• Reduce exposure to chemicals that mimic estrogen.

In comparison, with a cortisol profile, your key issue is handling stress. What you eat and how you move play a critical role. For example, too much of the wrong kind of exercise will impair your body’s ability to handle stress. Eating habits also play a role: Skipping meals or excessive fasting can impair your cortisol curve.

For an insulin profile, you need to restore insulin sensitivity. Insulin is a metabolic hormone that stores fat, but it also damages cells when out of balance. This causes inflammation and puts you at risk of diabetes.

How To Use Poliquin® BioSignature

The interventions taken for each profile are often similar. It’s the details that are unique to the profile and the individual. Identifying hormone imbalances supplies a window into the most impactful changes you can make.

We go more into the details of the changes for each profile in other articles on our site (Estrogen, Cortisol, Insulin) and here is a snapshot of what each might look like:

Cortisol Profile In Practice

Cortisol is a fascinating hormone. Best known as a “stress hormone,” cortisol is essential for human life because it regulates energy in your body. When it gets out of balance you will feel awful. Fatigue, uncontrollable hunger, a racing mind, anxiety, no energy, low mood, and inability to sleep are all signs of a cortisol profile. Physiologically, cortisol issues lead to fat gain in the belly and organs, inflammation, and increased disease risk (6).

It's important to know that cortisol is affected by both perceived stress and physical stress. Perceived stress comes from the uncontrollable reality of life: Traumatic encounters, relationship difficulties, financial worries, and the demands of work. Even small nuisances can impact cortisol release: Traffic, social media trolls, news, etc., are all threats to your adrenal health.

Physical stress comes from exercise, poor nutrition, skipped meals, lack of sleep, extreme cold, and dehydration. Perceived stress is often more harmful than the physical as the body was designed to handle acute physical stressors not chronic psychological stressors.

Addressing a cortisol profile will want to target both types of stress:

1. Identify an optimal meal frequency with high-quality nutrition
2. Get high-quality sleep and promote circadian function
3. Focus on mindfulness
4. Get relief with activities you enjoy

 

Insulin Profile In Practice

Addressing an insulin profile starts with what you eat. Exercise and lifestyle are also part of the plan but fixing what and how you eat can almost immediately improve your insulin health. The good news about this is that insulin priorities are the most manageable because you have 100 percent control over what you eat. No one ever ate anything by accident.

The exact details of nutrition for insulin management will vary by the individual. Some people get great results from a very low-carb keto-style diet that restores insulin sensitivity, whereas others need more carbs on a regular basis. Some general principles that everyone can benefit from include:

• Identify and meet your daily protein goal.
• Shoot for a meal frequency that helps you avoid excessive hunger.
• Time your carb intake.
• Optimize your fat intake with omega-3s.
• Use a food log.
• Develop a simple mindful eating practice.

 

Estrogen Profile In Practice

Estrogen profile is generally a problem of too much exposure to chemicals that mimic estrogen in the body. Known as xenoestrogens, these are foreign compounds present in our environment that enter your body and bind with estrogen receptors. A contributing factor to an estrogen profile is poor nutrition or an unhealthy gut that impairs the body’s ability to eliminate both biological estrogen and chemical estrogens.

When estrogen gets out of balance it leads to increased body fat and elevated levels of inflammation (5,7). Too little estrogen, such as during menopause, can also be a problem (8).

Completely avoiding chemicals isn’t possible even if you take a radical approach. These chemical estrogens are everywhere:

• Plant pesticides
• Animal growth hormones
• Cleaning products like sprays, soap, and degreasers
• Personal care products like shampoo, conditioner, and lotion
• Scented candles and air fresheners
• The coating on aluminum cans
• Plastic bottles and food containers
• Paper receipts
• Drinking water and food

The key is to reduce your exposure. We always say “the solution to pollution is dilution.” Do this by choosing natural products, eat organic whenever possible, washing food thoroughly, and using a water filter.

Specific nutrients also help the body fully metabolize estrogen from the body. Fiber, fish oils, zinc, melatonin, magnesium, and antioxidant nutrients found in foods like broccoli are key parts of your diet.

Final Words

If we’ve learned anything from health research, it’s that everyone is different. Poliquin® BioSignature helps you identify those unique variations to develop an extremely personalized program that is responsive to your exact biochemistry and lifestyle. A healthy and balanced hormonal system is imperative to maintaining your best physical and mental health for the rest of your life.